This invention relates to shelf support brackets and particularly to brackets of the type that support glass and marble shelves in a cantilever fashion.
Cantilever shelf brackets for supporting inserted shelf panels, usually of wood, have been known for many years. In recent years, these have taken the form of extruded aluminum devices capable of receiving the shelf panel in a wedging action, as in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,508,301 and 4,385,565. That is, the wood shelf panel of closely controlled thickness tolerance is placed under slightly deforming wedging stress during insertion, for secure retention of the assembled panel structure. The panel is inserted until the inner end abuts the inner end of the bracket throat. While this works very well for certain materials such as wood or particle board, it is not desirable to apply such stresses to certain other materials, particularly glass or marble. Breakage can result. This potential breakage problem is accentuated by the fact that glass panels for shelving tend to vary considerably in thickness. Therefore, a thicker panel either will not fit within the throat of the bracket, or, if sufficient force is applied to wedge it in place, the stress is immediately too great. If a thin panel is inserted, it is not securely retained. Furthermore, the potential of breakage resulting from this stress is increased if any scratching of the glass occurs. One significant cause of such scratching is the abutment engagement of the inner edge of the inserted shelf with the inner end of the bracket throat or of the bracket fastener as during insertion of the panel. Alternately, scratching can occur during the wedging type insertion of the glass panel into the metal bracket.
Aside from protection of glass and marble panels or the like from scratching, marring and localized stress, it is sometimes desirable to protect panels of fine wood and other materials during assembly of this shelving structure.